Gears of War, the franchise developed by Epic Games that appeared on the Xbox 360, has been sold to Microsoft, ending Epic Games' involvement with the series it helped create.

Microsoft has announced that the newly formed Black Tusk Studios will take over development for new games in the series for the Xbox One.

"Today we're excited to announce that Microsoft Studios has acquired the rights to the Gears of War franchise from Epic Games, including rights to all existing and future games, entertainment experiences and merchandise," a statement reads. "In addition, we are excited to announce that Black Tusk Studios in Vancouver, BC will take over development of the Gears of War franchise and that Rod Fergusson, former Director of Production at Epic Games on the Gears of War franchise, will join Microsoft and play a key studio leadership role at Black Tusk on the development of the franchise going forward," Microsoft said in a statement, IGN reported. 

Black Tusk Studios was formed in 2012 and has yet to put out a game for Microsoft, but having one of the most popular exclusive franchises on its roster may allow the company to shine right out of the gate with their first title, much like Microsoft managed when it had 343 Industries take over the Halo series from Bungie Studios.  

"Black Tusk has assembled a world-class team with deep experience and passion for the shooter space, and specifically the Gears of War franchise," said Microsoft's Phil Spencer.

Tim Sweeney, the founder of Epic and the company's CEO, released his own statement about the sale of their marquee franchise and the future of Epic Games.

"Epic Games has reached an agreement to sell the Gears of War intellectual property rights to Microsoft. We're very proud of the franchise we built in close partnership with Microsoft over the past decade and are happy that this agreement enables Microsoft to forge ahead with the Gears universe on their industry-leading platforms as Epic concentrates its efforts on new projects. Epic remains totally dedicated to supporting Xbox One and is licensing the Unreal Engine 4 technology to Microsoft in support of their future projects," said Sweeney in a statement. 

Microsoft has yet to announce a new Gears of War game for the Xbox One. However, it's possible a new game in the franchise was one of the projects that Phil Spencer hinted could be announced at E3 2014.